Material explorations

Some notes to date of working with 10 mil Mylar (the same material often used for stencils) as a painting surface.

Surface of 10 Mil Mylar tile after applying Mod Podge to areas painted with liquitex fluid paints. The paint surface has cracked and wrinkled depending on the thickness of the paint below. Not what I intended- putting this material application aside for future reference.

What I like about 10 Mil Mylar:

1. Mylar is both rigid and flexible, while lightweight. This makes it easy to suspend in a mobile, transport, and in theory store, taking up little space.

2. Mylar is translucent. This holds possibility for working with color on the front and back and allowing the color application to transform as light comes through the opposite side. the material itself adds a bit of a blue tone to warm colors so that is a fun thread to follow with shadow and line. Additional bonus the ability to trace linework from underneath it when transferring abstract patterns for others to paint.

3. Mylar is smooth. Thin and thick washes of paint glide across the surface, allowing layers to both be fluid and textured.

4. Cut to the same size as the other gridded canvases, these fit in the trellis frame, L shaped frames and other framing studies easily.

What I am challenged by:

1. the paint has started peeling away from the mylar if the surface of the paint rests atop porous papers

2. the paint has started peeling away from the Mylar if blue tape sits on it and is pulled off

3. the paint has started peeling away from the Mylar if magnets are used and pulled off or adjusted.

From what I've read online- Mylar's smooth surface may not take paint well. Even though I made a gesso wash for some of these prior to painting them, I may be challenged to keep the paint on the Mylar. I don't want to give up just yet, as the potential of the material is quite compelling.

Since then I've tried:

Wax paper: wrapping pieces in transit in wax paper and laying painted sides down of completed pieces on top of wax paper. So far this is working to keep the painted tiles from sticking and subsequently delaminating while I troubleshoot sealing options. Curious if there are other papers that are equally fine for this, parchment? Is Wax paper acid free for long term storage? Another line of research to follow.

Mod Podge Gel to seal/ coat the surface of the painted Mylar: Reading online- this has the potential to seal painted surfaces and may help prevent paint from peeling. It went on like white glue, thick and white but dried clear. However, there appears to be a chemical reaction, and the Mod Podge caused the paint to crack and scar at edges of different areas, creating a textured terrain that disrupted the original brush strokes and texture. It also formed a mat finish which took away some life from the test tile. As cool as the scarred edges and patterns are, this is not the desired result for this particular piece. Making note of this technique for future use, but putting aside for now.

Liquitex Gloss Acrylic Varnish: similarly this material was cited on several websites as a means to seal acrylic paint and keep them from peeling. This went on yellow at first but dried clear. This appears to be working- creating a smooth surface over the paint, and it is shiny allowing the metallic paint to shine through. I am in the process now of varnishing all the completed tiles for the mobile (multi-week drying process). The Mylar tile when held in the hand feels complete and polished. The key seems to make sure that the paint is dry (1 to 2 weeks at least before applying the varnish). I have everything mocked up in the studio and dates on the calendar for varnishing!

Sanding the Mylar + Clear Gesso:

Looking forward, and hoping to see if other preventative steps could be used to better prep the Mylar- In another trial, I sanded the Mylar with a block sander and then applied clear gesso across the surface (who knew there is such a thing as clear gesso!!!!??). I wish I had known about this instead of watering down white gesso to be able to see through the tiles.

The gesso is quite rough and has the feeling of sandpaper. It also mutes the colors applied over it, the darks become less dark and the lights less light. But if it holds the paint that could be ok for working the material. Will be storing this piece upside down on bond paper for a couple of days to see if it still has issues with peeling paint. If the sanding + clear gesso works, I'll use this technique going forward.